Okamoto grew up in a half Taiwanese, half Japanese household in New York City. At 9, Okamoto's mother won sole custody of her and her sisters and moved to Portland, Oregon where they experienced a lot of housing instability. At 16, Okamoto was inspired by her own situation, and the struggles faced by other homeless women in addressing how to deal with periods when you can't afford to buy period supplies. Okamoto believes that period equality and access to menstrual hygiene products is not a luxury, but a human right. She saw an issue, where homeless women were forced to use trash and cardboard as period products, and she did something about it. In 2014, Okamoto founded PERIOD.org, a non-profit to end period poverty and period stigma through service, education, and advocacy. Okamoto's aggressive, modern marketing campaign paid huge dividends. Within four years, PERIOD.org had addressed over 560,000 periods, registered over 360 campus charters, and grown to be the largest youth-run in women's health.
Okamoto created a movement
In 2019, PERIOD.org took their mission to end period poverty to the national level, working to end the "luxury tax" on tampons, and by fighting for all schools and prisons to carry menstrual hygiene products. Okamoto's vision for PERIOD has only expanded after hearing the needs and concerns of menstruators across the country, and even the world.
Even if Okamoto was only handling PERIOD.org, I would consider her to be a Pro-C, if not Big-C Creative. Astonishingly though, Okamoto is also involved in the largest youth run consulting firm in the US: Juv Consulting, has written a book, gives talks to major companies across the nation, has run for a government position, and is a current college student at Harvard. Talk about a tough schedule. 
Since PERIOD.org started, Okamoto has utilized her social media presence to advocate for others. On Instagram, Okamoto has over 30,000 followers and constantly features the voices of other youth activists across the nation. I think that one of the qualifications of being a Creative is taking risks to further your passion and that is exactly what Nadya Okamoto is doing.
Resources:
https://www.period.org/nadya
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nadya-okamoto-menstrual-movement_n_5b76f06 ce4b05906b 4133 6f4
https://www.instagram.com/nadyaokamoto/?hl=en
https://www.makers.com/videos/5ced90128c3ae828f84ba95f
https://www.vitalvoices.org/people/nadya-okamoto/
Menstrual hygiene is an extremely stigmatized subject. I cannot imagine being homeless and not having access to any period supplies. I think it is incredible that someone like Nadya Okamoto had the idea to start such an awesome organization that aims to help women physically and socially. Period.org is truly a novel and appropriate creation.
ReplyDeleteThe title drew me into this post. I just recently saw a commercial on TV for this issue (not sure if its related to her organization). It's amazing to find that someone so young was the leader of this movement, and that it has grown so much support in such a relatively short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteI love the mix of creativity and social activism Okamoto employs in her movement. I would definitely categorize her as Big C because of the range her movement has, in being able to mobilize large sectors of a population, and its ability to transcend its original goal. It's remarkable how she was able to bring it to the national level.
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